My thoughts, all lives matter and all lives deserve the chance to have the life that was intended for them. Clifford’s Army Rescue has been around for about 8 plus years now. We have pulled some dogs with many different issues but we took the responsibility to take care of them and that is what we do.
One of the first long timers we had was Noble. Noble came to us on his last day he would have lived at the local county shelter. A gorgeous boy, who went into foster, where he did not fair very well. He had a bit of a prey drive and got a chicken and a cat. He was deemed by the foster as aggressive toward others and he went into rescue boarding where he stayed for about a year. He then came to my house, where he was taken care of, loved as much as I had time for, which was not near what he deserved , my house was full at the time, but he still flourished. By year two, Noble had no interest that we would approve to adopt him. Are we picky? Well define that, a dog that came out of who knows what type of living environment. Yes, we are picky. We do an application, we do an interview, we do a home visit, vet and reference checks. We discuss any and all issues the dog may have to make sure the home and family are a good fit. Around the two and a half year mark, Noble and myself along with a friend and their dog were taking walks on the trails and I was trying to figure out just how to get this boy a home, he so deserved it.
Out of the blue came the application. It was perfect. The couple came and met Noble. Love at first sight. Noble hung in there waiting for his forever home through foster, boarding, foster, and hit the jack pot! His mom tucks him in every night. His dad takes him hiking. He loves other dogs, kids, everyone ( well except the chickens, they are kept separate ) Yes they even have chickens and worked it out for Noble not to be able to get to the chickens. He is loved beyond compare and lives such a wonderful life. Was it worth the wait? Yes! You can look at the photos, you can see the love! Noble( who now has another name) is so so very happy and he has many years to enjoy himself with his human parents.
Next there is Harlow. Harlow was at the local county shelter, demodex mange, secondary infections, and so anxious he was chasing his tail and actually bit a piece off. We got him out, and he had so much anxiety we had no clue what to do, but we researched, we talked to our vet, we worked with him. If you crated him, he would get super anxious. If you left him he would go round and round and would be soaking wet from licking himself. I fostered for awhile but I was working long hours then, and when one of our awesome fosters, who also had kids that Harlow loved came open, she took on Harlow. Harlow shined at his foster home, waking the kids up, helping with foster pups, he still had some separation issues, but he was happy and things were better. He got adopted, he got returned. The adopters had a camera on him and could not understand his anxiety. ( Harlow might have had a bed or two explode, but he never damaged anything in the house, only ran in circles) He went back to his foster family and I really think they were not sure if he would ever find his forever family.
And then here it came. The perfect fit. The family who had dealt with a similar dog that chewed on herself when left alone. Another that was very food aggressive with the kids. They dealt with some major issues and they fell in love with Harlow. Harlow’s human mom is home most times so he is not left alone much at all. They had already consulted a behaviorist to help them with him. Harlow is living with his human parents and two human siblings and is very happy. Four years after pulling from AC, Harlow is finally home.
Did we ever ever think of euthanizing either of these two boys or any of the other dogs we have had for extended times? The answer is a resounding no. The dogs were healthy and like humans suffered from some issues that could be treated and dealt with. They could be loved by compassionate people until the right family came along. Sometimes the situation is not the most perfect, sometimes they may be in boarding for awhile but you make their lives the best you can, you go the extra mile to keep working with them, loving on them, and hunting that family that is for them alone. Some say boarding is terrible. While I would much rather our dogs be in a family setting, we make sure the ones we have in boarding, we go walk, we interact, play with them, take to events, to the parks, the trails. We get a trainer when needed. Its about saving lives, not killing them.
We took Kaleb from a DOT supevisor after found in a ditch. Both legs broken, hip messed up. 7K just to fix that not counting the other vetting he needed. We raised close to 10K for this boy and he now walks, runs, plays and is thriving, still in a foster home. He is with one of our fosters who is also a trainer as he has some cattle dog in him and he would nip a tad too hard. Now he is good, and his home is out there and we will find it. ( and he will be adopted out for the same adoption fee we have for all dogs) Again its about finding them the right home. Its about saving lives.
Do we ever have to make that horrible decision to euthanize? Yes we do, but look at the definition of euthanize. To kill painlessly to relieve suffering from an incurable illness. To kill painlessly when there is irremediable suffering. Unfortunately that decision had to be made just this week but we did all we could to give a sweet boy a chance. The boy had been at our vets three weeks prior with his owners and had to have a corn cob removed out of his large intestines. When brought back, owners did not have funds for more surgery, the dog had lost tons of weight, and was very sick, throwing up, and without surgery, the only option was euthanasia. Thanks to a very generous donor, we were able to try to help this sweet boy. I actually was able ( thanks to our awesome vets) and watch the surgery. Before it was over three vets were trying everything they could think of, but at the end of the day, the boy would barely have any small intestines, his small intestines had went into his large intestines, and there was not enough due to the previous surgery to be able to fix it. He had a intussusception . He would have suffered terribly if they had even tried, never being able to digest his food, running straight through him, ( he was already 20 plus pounds underweight). All three vets said if he were their dog, they would let him go as he would suffer daily and there was no way to fix it. We did the humane thing, and let him go.
As a non profit rescue we will never give up on a healthy animal, nor we let one that is suffering irremediably, continue to suffer. When one puts down healthy animals it is killing not euthanizing.
It should never be about an adoption fee, or making more profit, or having the most adoptable dogs. Rescue is about saving those that others may not give a chance. Rescue is saving the abandoned, the sick, the injured and showing true compassion to help them. Rescue is knowing that all lives truly do matter.
